Beware the Leprechaun!

[Kolchak]

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner! Enjoy your corn beef and cabbage, but beware the Leprechaun!!

Make sure you have enough Guinness and Jameson and Harp on hand! But beware the Leprechaun!

Some Guinness was spilt on the barroom floor, when the pub was shut for the night.
Out of his hole crept a wee brown mouse, and he stood in the pale moonlight.
He lapped up the frothy brew from the floor, then back on haunches he sat.
And all night long you could hear him roar..."Bring On the Goddarn Cat!"

[Andybev01]

Perpetuating the drunken Irishman stereotype.

That's it buddy; we're taking this outside !

[Kolchak]

Perpetuating the drunken Irishman stereotype.

That's it buddy; we're taking this outside !

Bro! I AM THE IRISH STEREOTYPE! I've only had two jobs my whole life...Soldier and Cop! If that's not am Irishman then I don't know what is!?

I couldn't be a fireman....They work too hard! Plus I have no desire to run into a burning building.

I'm the worst kind of Irish too. I'm a Mick and a Cracker. We drink. We fight. We fornicate. Sometimes all at once!

But you're not a TRUE Mick if you drink your Guinness from a bottle! Tap ONLY!

Any person or bar that offers Guinness in bottles should be beaten or destroyed as the circumstance dictates!

Remember that! Also Jameson before Bushmills since Bushmills is made in Northern Ireland and those people are the fake Irish! But if Bushmills is all they have, then it's okay!

If you're drinking Lager...Harp is numero uno! That's Celtic ya know?!

[Murfreesboro]

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

We don't do much for it, other than dress in green & have a quasi-Irish meal, but it is a sign of spring, which is cheerful.

[MauEvig]

I don't do much for it either. But I'll probably dress in blue and green this year, due to the new information I got from my boss at the book store. I wish I could still work there though lol, but he said he'd hire me back when the book buy back goes on.

I didn't even decorate for it. I just sort of skipped ahead to the Easter stuff. Oh well. I'm but a wee bit irish anyway and I think I'm one of the few who actually enjoys Valentine's day more.

And I don't even drink beer. Guess I don't have to worry about bottle or tapped on my end.

So Happy St Patty's folks!

[Murfreesboro]

My son was asking last week why people wear green, so we went on an internet search about it. I ran into that info about blue being the color of St. Patrick for centuries. Then apparently in the 18th century it became a big political statement to wear a shamrock on St. Patrick's Day. Wearing green grew out of wearing the shamrock, I think. And of course, Ireland is known as "the Emerald Isle" because its moist atmosphere keeps everything so green there.

We had a meal I got out of some of those supermarket pamphlets they sell by the check-out stand--supposedly Irish food, probably with a decidedly 21rst century American take on it. We had roasted chicken thighs in a creamy mustard sauce and herbed Irish potatoes (boiled Irish potatoes with butter, lemon juice, & dill weed). We had a spinach salad on the side.

[Kolchak]

Is there such a thing as Irish cooking?

Someone said that; Irish cuisine was putting everything into a pot and boiling it for 48 hours! You could then eat everything with a straw!

Growing up at my house, St Patrick's day was like Thanksgiving. You ate leftovers for two weeks afterwards. The big difference being that I much prefer turkey and dressing over corn beef and cabbage. When I got a little older I would sneak out and buy some fresh sauerkraut, and marble rye bread and some really good spicy mustard. Then at least I could make Reuben sandwiches with the leftover corn beef.

There are some places that make good sour dough bread. I've tried making it myself and fall flat on my face every time. So these days I just buy it. While potatoes and carrots are a staple in Ireland, they are also not too bad at making what we call pot roast. I noticed that they put milk in their stock rather than water and it gives it a better consistency when you dip your sour dough bread in it.

We had a pretty good parade here yesterday and nobody got too drunk and I didn't have to use my taser or pepper spray. Needless to say I had to wait to get off duty before I could imbibe myself. This year I broke tradition and had some Tullamore D.E.W. Irish whiskey. D.E.W. stands for Danial E. Williams who was the general manager of the distillery back in the 19th century.

The color blue is an old story about Ireland that people rediscover every 40 years or so. The easiest way to remember is to look at the home game jersey's that the U. of Notre Dame wear. They may look to be a dark green or even black, but in truth are a deep blue.

[Kolchak]

There's actually a lot more dealing with the color green, as an Irish symbol, but imho it is not something good Irish folks should be proud of, so I'll let that sleeping dog lie.

[NeverMore]

Hey Kolchak, have you ever performed the Irish Sobriety Test?

I had to work downtown on Saturday night, during the city celebration. Nothing like trying to find a parking spot close to the job when 40 thousand drunken people have descended on the area.

[Murfreesboro]

I like corned beef & cabbage--as a matter of fact, I love cabbage just about any way it can be prepared (I'm a big fan of Brussels sprouts, too). However, I am alone in my family with this enthusiasm, so if I want anyone else to eat besides me, I'd better have something different for St. Patrick's Day.

I learned a couple of years back that corned beef & cabbage is an American Irish thing, anyway--over in Ireland supposedly they paired cabbage with bacon or ham, but that was more expensive here, I guess. In the big cities up North, the immigrant Irish lived in neighborhoods next door to the immigrant Jews, and they picked up corned beef from their Jewish neighbors. Hence corned beef & cabbage.

[MauEvig]

The corned beef must have been a result of the ideologies in Judaism that require a Kosher diet. Still I think that cabbage and corned beef does make for a good combination, but I can see Kolchak's point. It's better as a reuben sandwich. A reuben with fries was my St Patrick's day dinner, and for lunch I had treated myself to a shamrock shake at McDonalds, although I had to hurry up to eat because I had to go to my classroom observations.

My Grandma mentioned that the Reuben was a Jewish idea, but if it is, I don't think they would include the cheese. I'm not sure about the thousand island dressing either. Jewish kosher traditions state that "one must not drown a calf in it's mother's milk" and therefore, dairy and meat products are kept separated. Otherwise, they aren't kosher.

Considering Jewish lived closed to the Irish in communities, I wonder if that might have been how my Great-Grandfather met my Great-Grandmother. Granted, they didn't live near New York city, although where I used to live Irish were common and they even had the St Patty's day parades. I'm pretty sure my Great-Grandmother might have been Irish and English, but I could be wrong about that.

Still I didn't make it into a big thing. I dressed in a green dress coat and a blue shirt underneath with blue earrings. Blue and Green. Both bases covered.

[Kolchak]

Hey Kolchak, have you ever performed the Irish Sobriety Test?

I had to work downtown on Saturday night, during the city celebration. Nothing like trying to find a parking spot close to the job when 40 thousand drunken people have descended on the area.

LOL!! I LOVE IT!

I might have been guilty of that myself, when I was young and single. I'd go to bed with Sandra Bullock and wake up with Bigfoot!

[Kolchak]

The corned beef must have been a result of the ideologies in Judaism that require a Kosher diet. Still I think that cabbage and corned beef does make for a good combination, but I can see Kolchak's point. It's better as a reuben sandwich. A reuben with fries was my St Patrick's day dinner, and for lunch I had treated myself to a shamrock shake at McDonalds, although I had to hurry up to eat because I had to go to my classroom observations.

My Grandma mentioned that the Reuben was a Jewish idea, but if it is, I don't think they would include the cheese. I'm not sure about the thousand island dressing either. Jewish kosher traditions state that "one must not drown a calf in it's mother's milk" and therefore, dairy and meat products are kept separated. Otherwise, they aren't kosher.

Considering Jewish lived closed to the Irish in communities, I wonder if that might have been how my Great-Grandfather met my Great-Grandmother. Granted, they didn't live near New York city, although where I used to live Irish were common and they even had the St Patty's day parades. I'm pretty sure my Great-Grandmother might have been Irish and English, but I could be wrong about that.

Still I didn't make it into a big thing. I dressed in a green dress coat and a blue shirt underneath with blue earrings. Blue and Green. Both bases covered.

Corn beef was also very cheap and could be preserved a bit longer than pork. The Irish turned to it as much out of necessity as anything else. Catholics love their pork, and in Ireland pork dishes are quite common. Potatoes, carrots and cabbage are the usual veggies, don't see much corn up there.

I wasn't trying to imply that Reuben's were an Irish thing, just that I can eat only so much corn beef and cabbage before it starts to make me sick just looking at it. This was simply my attempt at making a bad situation tolerable. Like any good soldier you must learn to 1. improvise 2. adapt 3. overcome 4. drive on to victory!

While thousand island dressing is the usual condiment, I like some good spicy yellow or brown mustard on mine. Gives it a bit of a different kick! Swiss cheese was probably an afterthought, but I'm glad they use it. More than likely some deli up in New York or Chicago came up with the first Reuben. Years ago I had a great Reuben in Chicago after leaving a White Sox game. I can't remember the name, but it was the bomb. I also had a few good places in Miami I frequented while living there, where transplanted New Yorkers had opened up delis

[Andybev01]

I like corned beef & cabbage--as a matter of fact, I love cabbage just about any way it can be prepared (I'm a big fan of Brussels sprouts, too).

Cut them in half & steam until almost done.

Fry a few bacon strips, then crumble them.

Keep the bacon fat, place the sprout halfs (halves ?) cut side down in the fat and fry them until finished cooking.

Mix the crumbled bacon back to the pan.

You can also add a tablespoon of lemon juice and minced garlic to the fat before frying.

[Murfreesboro]

That sounds delicious!